Like Jousting
by Alenax10Ezra
Summary: Alenax Lavellan hated Magisters. He hated Tevinter and slavers and blood mages. Granted, he had never met any of those people before he met Dorian Pavus, but initially he hated him too. Then, as Alenax got to know Dorian, his feelings started to change. See how the pair get to know each other, themselves, and maybe save the world. Please read and review! Thank you!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Alenax was already regretting choosing to side with the mages. Had anyone told him that it would mean speaking to Tevinter magisters on civilized terms, he would have gladly stormed the Templar fortress, Creators be damned. The magister, Alexius, was relaxed in his seat across the table from Alenax and he had to hide a grimace at how self-assured the magister was. The arrogance wasn't what made Alenax's skin crawl, however. That was accomplished by the expression on Alexius' face: an expression of pure contempt that clearly conveyed how far above his station Alenax was in the magister's eyes. _This man would have me chained and collared in an instant had he the chance,_ Alenax thought to himself, barely containing the hatred boiling in his gut. _I wonder how many elven slaves he's murdered with his own hands._

Alenax was pulled from his thoughts by Cassandra's hand on his shoulder. "Magister Alexius, the Inquisition simply came to request the aid of the mages of Redcliffe. If that is no longer possible, we will take our leave," she said calmly. Alenax wondered if he had let his anger slip through his guard and made sure his face was composed.

"Nonsense! The negotiations will now simply have to be conducted through myself," the magister said, an overconfident grin on his face. "But first, let me send for a scribe! Felix, my son, would you be so kind?"

"Of course, Father," the Tevinter mage called Felix responded with a slight bow. He turned and retreated to the back room of the tavern.

"Your Inquisition has quite the… _diverse_… composition, does it not? Led by a savage elf who travels flanked by a Qunari and a high-ranking member of the southern Chantry."

Alenax could hardly believe the obvious distain in Alexius' voice. He took a breath to calm down before answering, "the Inquisition accepts all those who wish to help into our ranks. We can hardly afford to turn away any allies."

Alexius opened his mouth to reply but was thankfully interrupted by the return of Felix. "I'm sorry, Father, but I'm afraid I'm not feeling so…" Felix began before lurching forward dangerously. Alenax leapt to catch the man unthinkingly and felt Felix's hand slip something into his belt. Alexius jumped to his feet, almost knocking over his chair, to take Felix from him.

"My apologies, Inquisition, but I must attend to my son. Perhaps we can speak again on a later date?" Alexius said, more as a statement than a request. Without waiting for an answer, he swept Felix from the room with the help of one of his servants. The rest of the Tevinters followed their magister, leaving the main room of the bar empty except for Alenax and his group.

With a quick glance around the room to make sure that they were definitely alone, Alenax pulled out what he discovered was a letter that Felix had slipped to him. He unfurled it and read it aloud to his companions. "'You are in more danger than you realize. Go to the chantry. I will meet you there.' Is it just me, or does this sound like a trap?"

"Trap or no, we should see what this is about," Cassandra stated.

"I agree. And it's not as if we can't handle a few Vints," Iron Bull said with a smirk.

Alenax took a deep sigh and ran his hand back through his hair, pushing the front strands back from his face. Impatient with his reluctance, Sera added, "Well what are we waiting for? Time to go plug some lying assholes!"

"We don't know if it's a trap yet, Sera," Alenax said, even though he hoped it was. Killing some Tevinters would cheer him up more than having to deal with the kind of "help" a magister's son is likely to provide.

"Maybe you don't," Sera rolled her eyes, "but I know a stinky ass when I smell one."

Alenax sighed and stuck the note back into his belt. "Guess we might as well find out sooner rather than later," he muttered, and led his companions out of the tavern and towards the town chantry. _It's too late to change your mind now. Traveling all the way to the Templar's would take valuable time that we don't have, _he reminded himself. _Let's just hope this is all worth it._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The group stood in front of the chantry doors, taking a moment to make sure all their weapons were ready for the ambush that was surly waiting for them. Alenax had triple checked that his sword was strapped to his back and just barely resisted the urge to prematurely unsheathe and wield it. If his companions had noticed his unease, none of them mentioned it. "Fenedhis…" Alenax muttered to himself under his breath as he put his hand on the doors of the chantry and pushed them open.

Alenax was surprised to find, not an ambush, but a rift spewing out demons and in the middle of it all, a mage, fighting by himself. "Good! You're finally here! Now help me close this, would you?" the mage asked, overly cheery for someone surrounded by demons. _Kill demons first, deal with insane mage after,_ Alenax thought to himself as he wielded his two-handed sword and brought it down through the nearest demon.

The fight didn't last very long. Alenax, Cassandra and Iron Bull could be accurately compared to an unstoppable force of nature as the three of them cut their way through the demons in sync, with Sera picking off any stragglers that survived the main attack or somehow snuck behind. They quickly drew the demons' attention away from the mage, who fell back to Sera's position and began casting protective magic on the warriors as well as the occasional fireball. While Alenax was not thrilled with the idea of an unknown mage creating fire so close to him, he had to admit that the magic was incredibly helpful in their fight and the mage, proficient. Finally, Cassandra cut down the last of the demons and Alenax thrust his glowing left hand towards the rift. He couldn't help the grimace that flashed across his face as he felt the unfamiliar and uncomfortable pull of magic between his hand and the rift. As always however, he pushed past his unease and allowed the mark to do its job, ripping his arm back as the rift sealed with the usual bang.

"Fascinating!" the mage exclaimed as soon as the rift was gone. "How does that work exactly?" _Fenedhis lasa. _Alenax recognized that accent. This mage was of Tevinter. _Of course. Where there is one magister, there will soon be many. They congregate like insects. _The mage must have taken Alenax's silent glare as an admission of ignorance because he continued, "You don't even know, do you? You just wiggle your fingers and boom! Rift closes."

"Who are you and what do you want, Shemlen?" Alenax asked, though it came out to sound more like a demand. This whole situation was really starting to test the limits of his self-control.

"'Shemlen?' Are you one of the elves who call themselves… oh, what was it? …Dalish?"

Alenax tightened his grip on his blade, the tip of which was digging into the chantry floorboards. "I am. My name is Alenafes Miraen of clan Lavellan." Alenax heard Sera mutter something like "of course…friggen…elfy…" under her breath and resisted a sigh. "Who. Are. You."

To his credit, the mage shifted awkwardly, seemingly realizing that he insulted Alenax. "My apologies, I meant no offense." The man dipped into an overdramatic bow and answered, "Dorian of House Pavus, most recently of Minrathous. How do you do?"

"So, you _are_ a Magister then. Fenedhis lasa..." Alenax ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Okay, I'm only going to explain this once. Not all mages from Tevinter are Magisters. A Magister is a member of the Magisterium. I, for example, am not a Magister. I am what we call an Altus. I know you southerners don't understand the difference but that just makes you all seem like barbarians."

"Fine, '_Altus_.' Why did you want to meet me here?" Alenax asked, adding as much sarcasm to the word "Altus" as possible.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to help you. Magister Alexius was once my mentor, so my assistance should be valuable – as I'm sure you can imagine."

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because Alexius is playing with powers that could lead to the end of the world. Surely you can't want that." Dorian had him there. And its not like Alenax really had anywhere else to turn.

"Fine, but I'll be watching you closely, mage." That's when Felix finally decided to enter the chantry.

"Well aren't we all getting along nicely! Dorian, what did you do?" Felix asked with a mocking tone to his voice.

"Me? I was perfectly well behaved, as always!" Dorian protested, mock pouting at his friend.

"I'd believe you more if that were ever true," Felix replied, laughing lightly. Felix did a great deal to lighten the mood, despite being yet another mage from Tevinter. "Anyway, Herald, I'm glad you decided to come. What my father is involved in is madness."

"You say that as if Tevinter isn't normally mad," Iron Bull remarked dryly.

The mages decided to ignore his comment, thankfully, and moved on to discuss business. Alenax couldn't believe it. There was an entire cult obsessed with finding and killing him? So obsessed that they used actual time travel to beat him to his goal? It was times like these that Alenax desperately missed the simplicity and relative safety of his clan. He did his best to keep the mood light and not reveal how uncomfortable he was chatting with two Tevinter mages. As a hunter he knew, you never let a predator sense your fear.

Finally, the Tevinters finished telling him all he needed to know about the magister planning to kill him and he could leave this blasted chantry. "Well I'd better go get ready then," Alenax said, backing up slowly towards the doors.

"Wait a moment, please," Dorian said quickly, before Alenax could fully escape. "Whenever you're ready to deal with Alexius, I want to be there. I'll be in touch." Alenax nodded before he could actually process what he was agreeing to. As he walked out he kicked himself. _Sure, Alenax, tell the magister that he can contact you whenever he has a whim. Great idea._


	3. Chapter 3

Alenax was silent for most of the journey back to Haven, despite incessant prodding from Sera. When the group stopped to make camp, he politely excused himself as quickly as possible and secluded himself in his tent. He could just imagine the Keepers lecture she would certainly give him if she knew he was working with Tevinters. As a Dalish he'd grown up with tales of Tevinter brutality and the genocide of the elven people that they had attempted to commit. The thought of spending more time around Tevinter mages made him feel unclean. Sleep eluded him and finally, he could take it no longer and he snuck out of his tent. The full moon was clear and bright in the night sky, so he had no difficulty making his way through the untamed wilderness.

After about half an hour of exploring the forest, Alenax found what he was searching for. Stripping off his dirty armor took some time but soon enough he was running naked into the stream. He sank happily into the cool water, letting the current wash away all his misgivings about Tevinter mages and the breach and staying with the Inquisition in general. Dunking his head under the water briefly, he cleared his head and truly calmed down for the first time in weeks. Unburdened and alone, he let his thoughts wander aimlessly as he soaked and took in the night sky.

He thought back to his home, his clan, his family. He wondered where they were now. Had they remained in the Free Marches or had they moved, hoping to escape the rifts? He hoped they were safe. Staring up at the dark sky sprinkled with stars, he sent out a silent prayer to the creators. He prayed for his clan's safety, he prayed for strength and guidance, but most of all he prayed that those he lost at the Temple of Sacred Ashes be guided safely to the beyond. Alenax grimaced to himself at the regret and guilt that pulled at his chest when he thought of his friends. If only he had been smarter, he should had insisted they stay hidden outside of the conclave, he should have insisted _she_ not follow him into danger. He sighed; his peace disturbed by the thoughts that haunt him constantly. With the water no longer offering relief, he stood and climbed out of the stream to pull on his sleepwear. Silently, he walked back to camp, thoughts filled with death and destruction.

That night Alenax's dreams were tumulus and he woke feeling less rested than he had when he went to sleep. He had camp packed up before his companions awoke and insisted that they begin traveling as quickly as possible. Iron Bull and Sera automatically began to complain about missing breakfast but with one look at Alenax's drained face they shut their mouths. The rest of the trip back to Haven was made in relative silence, Alenax's bad mood having permeated to the rest of the group. At last they reached the gates but before Alenax could even put down his bags, Cullen was desperate to speak to him.

"Herald, how was the meeting? Do we have the mages?" he asked, falling in step beside Alenax as he desperately tried to make it to his room. His faithful companions abandoned him as soon as they saw Cullen approach and Alenax wished more than anything that he had that ability as well.

"The meeting… did not go as well as we hoped," Alenax said with a sigh. "There were… complications. I would love to discuss them but right now, if possible, I would like to rest." Cullen nodded but continued to walk with Alenax until he sighed again in frustration and added, "alone."

"Oh yes of course! I will leave you to your rest. Please meet us in the chantry when you are ready," and with that Cullen finally took his leave as Alenax reached his door. Once inside, Alenax shrugged off his bags unceremoniously and fell face first onto his bed.

He was almost asleep when a knock came from his door. He grunted "Come in," into his pillow and just rolled to sit up when Josephine came through the door, brandishing her quill and clipboard like a crazed record keeper.

"Herald! I am very sorry to disturb you, but you are needed urgently at a meeting in the…" she trailed off as she finally looked up and took in Alenax's appearance. He had lost his typical stoic expression a sleepless night and 100 miles ago and now his face resembled that of a teenager roused from bed at the break of dawn. His bloodshot eyes glared at her from sunken, purple eye sockets and his hair stuck up in all directions, some pieces even defying gravity. "Actually… I'm sure it can wait. I'll post a guard outside your door to prevent any further disruptions. Do try to get some sleep, Herald." Josephine slowly backed out of his room with a deep bow. Exhausted both physically and mentally, Alenax collapsed back onto his bed and finally fell asleep, still fully dressed in his armor.


	4. Chapter 4

Alenax woke up slowly at first. He tried to stretch to loosen up his sore, stiff muscles but found his range of motion severely limited due to the armor he neglected to take off the night before. Reluctantly, he worked his way out of bed, limbs screaming in protest the whole process, and made his way across his room to open the curtain. Once it was pulled aside however, panic hit and suddenly Alenax had never felt more awake. The afternoon light burned his tired eyes and he quickly dropped the curtain back in front of the window. _Fenedhis! I slept all day! Cullen is going to murder me! Oh Creators, Leliana is going to make me disappear. How did they not wake me up! _

Alenax sprang into action, ignoring the pain throughout his body to throw off his armor as fast as he could. He sponged himself down, getting the worst of the dirt off and quickly pulled on his tights and shirt. Running to his door, he threw it open and slammed into a woman standing just behind it. She started to fall but Alenax grabbed her hand and pulled her back up smoothly. He quickly gave her an awkward smile and apologized. She shook her head and said it was nothing. With another quick apology, he turned to sprint up towards the chantry. He didn't recognize her face in the brief moments he saw it, nor did he notice her calling out to him as he ran away.

Without any hesitation, Alenax ran through the chantry and burst into Josephine's office. Surprised, she jumped up from her seat and stepped towards him. "Herald! What are you doing? What's wrong?" she asked him, with a glance out the door to make sure the chantry wasn't on fire.

Holding his sore muscles and still groggy from too much sleep following too little, he muttered, "…so sorry… slept late… here to report…"

"Report what?" Josephine asked, completely bewildered.

"If I had to guess, I'd say to report about me," a Tevinter spoke from somewhere deeper in the office. Alenax finally looked around the room and saw the man he was too frazzled to notice before, sitting in a chair opposite Josephine's. Alenax quickly straightened up and mentally slapped himself alert. "Surely, you remember who I am."

"Fenedhis… Pavus? The so-called 'Altus'?" Alenax asked, more to annoy the man than out of a real question. He remembered Dorian Pavus from Redcliffe. He just couldn't figure out why he was sitting in Josephine's office, 1oo miles from the rest of the Tevinters.

"In the flesh." If Dorian was irritated by Alenax's comment, he didn't show it. "I was just having a lovely chat with your Ambassador here."

Alenax was tired, sore, and not in a very good mood. To say the least, his mood was not improved by seeing the man second on the list of people who he never wanted to speak to again. The man was infuriatingly self-absorbed and condescending and worst of all, Tevinter. Regardless, he managed a, "wonderful," in response. "Shall we gather everyone else?" he asked Josephine.

"Not to be insensitive, but you look... well, awful, Herald," Dorian said, referring to Alenax's uncombed hair and backwards shirt, "perhaps we should wait until tomorrow?"

_Perhaps you should go back to Tevinter and take your Magister with you. _Alenax kept that thought to himself. "I assure you; I am fine. Thank you for your concern, but I would like to get everyone up to speed as quickly as possible."

Josephine ignored the hostility in the air with practiced grace. "I will send someone for the others," she said, "Please wait in the War Room."

Alenax and Dorian entered the war room and shut the door. As Alenax removed his shirt to put it on correctly, Dorian spoke up. "Alenafes, I wanted to apologize again for offending you when we first met. I feel like we got off on the entirely wrong foot."

Despite himself, Alenax felt his face grow a little warm. No shemlen had ever bothered to remember his true name. Most immediately shortened it to the point where he often simply introduced himself as "Alenax" as it seemed better fitted for their lips. Before he could stop himself, he was saying, "please, you can just call me Alenax or Alex."

Dorian smiled and said, "then I would like to start over, Alenax, if we could." When Alenax did not immediately respond, Dorian continued, "I understand your hesitation, there are few people who don't resent my homeland for one reason or another, but I am here to help you fight against the corruption that plagues my home. Hopefully that earns me at least the benefit of the doubt."

Alenax couldn't bring himself to trust the Tevinter man in front of him, but he liked to think he wasn't completely unreasonable. "Alright, Dorian, you have one chance."

"Oh, thank the Maker for small mercies then," he responded with his trademark flair and only a hint of sarcasm. Alenax rolled his eyes. Dorian was still smirking at Alenax a few seconds later when Cullen, Leliana, Cassandra, and Josephine all entered and took their places around the table. Alenax ran a hand through his hair, pushing it all in one direction again, and moved to his corner, Dorian joining him.

Alenax liked spending these meetings standing in the corner. He found that the further out of sight he was, the less the shemlen around the table felt the need to ask his opinion. He liked this group more than he had ever liked any shemlen but that didn't mean he wanted any position of power or influence and the others typically didn't try to force it on him. Instead they preferred to bicker among themselves.

"We can't leave Redcliffe in the hands of a Tevinter magister!" Cassandra angrily leaned into the table towards Cullen, who she was currently arguing with.

"Well, we can't lay siege to the castle. Either we find some other way or we give up on this nonsense and go get the templars!" Cullen responded, equally exasperated.

"We can't simply send the Herald in. Alexius asked for him by name, it's an obvious trap," Josephine said, calm as always.

"Wonderful," Alenax muttered sarcastically under his breath. Dorian cast him a sideways glance accompanied by a small chuckle.

"Alexius obviously wishes to kill the Herald," said Leliana.

Josephine rolled her eyes, "Not this again."

"Redcliffe castle has repelled thousands of assaults and I will not let the Herald go in alone," said Cullen.

Alenax snorted and when the group around the table turned to look at him, he made a mock touched expression and said, "Aww, Commander, I didn't know you cared so much."

Cassandra rolled her eyes and Cullen blushed ever so slightly. He responded indignantly, "If you go in there, you'll die, and we'll lose the only means of closing the rifts. I won't allow it."

"And if we don't even try, we lose the mages and leave a foreign power on our doorstep!" protested Leliana.

"Even if we had the power to assault the castle, we would be seen as an "Orlesian" force marching into Ferelden. We would provoke a war. Our hands are tied," said Josephine.

Cassandra began to continue her protests, "The Magister…"

"Has outplayed us," finished Cullen.

A silence descended in the war room as all eyes turned to Alenax. He sighed and rubbed his temples. He was far too tired for this argument. Finally, he said, "There has to be something we can do. Is there truly no other way into the castle? Not even a sewer? A servants' entrance?"

"Not that I know of," Cullen responded.

"Wait," said Leliana after a moment to think. "There is a secret passage into the castle. An escape route for the family. We can't send troops through, but I could send my agents."

"It's too risky. Those agents would be discovered long before reaching the magister."

"Then send me as well. I will act as a distraction, allowing Leliana's agents to move through the castle," Alenax said, moving away from his wall to stand at the war table. He looped the thumb of his marked hand in the top of his paints in a subconscious effort to hide it.

"That could work but it's a huge risk to you," Cullen responded, looking at Alenax with some concern. "We can't, in good conscious, order you to do this."

"You're not ordering me if I offer," said Alenax, giving Cullen a reassuring smile."

"Very well, but this won't be easy."

"Fortunately, he'll have help." Dorian also moved from the wall to join Alenax. He gave the elf a quick wink when their eyes met. "Your spies will never get past Alexius' magic without my help, so if you're going after him, I'm coming along."


	5. Chapter 5

Alenax had returned to his room to rest for the remainder of the day. He didn't notice that he drifted off to sleep until he woke up early the next morning. Pulling on his armor, he contemplated the odds of their plan resulting in a success. He was going to serve himself up on a platter to a man who obviously wanted him dead, with his life resting in the hands of a Tevinter mage who was liable to turn on him at any moment. Alenax sighed and shook his head._ How did my life come to this? _He picked up his sword, strapped it to his back, and walked out his door.

The morning was young, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon, causing a beautiful orange glow to overtake the snow littering the mountain. The sight brought a smile to Alenax's face, until an increasingly familiar voice broke through his reverie. "I do believe that is the first genuine smile I've seen grace your face, Alenax."

The smile dropped from his face and, with his usual stoic expression, Alenax turned his attention to the Tevinter before him. "Pavus. I trust you're ready for our journey today."

"Of course. Thankfully your horse master has provided mounts for us, we should be near Redcliffe by nightfall. The sooner we are back in civilization, the better," Dorian said, sneering at the dirt around him as if it were the true source of evil in the world.

Alenax couldn't help but laugh, "Do you miss your cities already, Shemlen?"

"I believe I am picking up some mockery in your voice, Dalish," Dorian said, feigning injury. "You wound me."

"You'll live, I'm sure," Alenax responded, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Despite Alenax's initial misgivings, Dorian was becoming rather interesting to him. So far, Dorian had treated him with respect, even more than most of the southerners he had met. It was hardly enough to make Alenax trust him, but he had to admit that the mage had his charms.

"So you say, Alex, **I** am not convinced." Dorian smirked at Alenax and was about to say something else when they were joined by a rather irate looking Sera and a prim Cassandra.

"I still don't understand why we havta leave at the arse-crack of dawn," Sera whined, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"The earlier we leave, the earlier we can get to Redcliffe and stop Magister Alexius," Cassandra responded, slightly irritated with the small elf.

"I also don't understand why we swapped Bull for Ms. Stick-up-the-arse," Sera said under her breath. Cassandra only rolled her eyes, opting to not engage her.

The four of them made their way to the gates of Haven, where they found their mounts. Leliana's people were traveling separately as to ensure they would not be detected. Listening to his companions bickering, however, made Alenax wish he wasn't stuck traveling with this group.

The trip was mostly uneventful, only one bandit attack that was quickly dealt with, which gave Alenax a long time to think. To his surprise and irritation, he couldn't stop thinking about the mage riding next to him. The fact that said mage was sneaking glances his way didn't help. Alenax quite simply did not understand him. The man was charming and considerate and like no other Shemlen he had ever met. However, the altus was also extremely prideful. Prideful, self-involved, and attractive for a Shemlen. _Wait. Attractive? _Alenax felt his face growing warm at the turn his thoughts took. He caught himself staring at Dorian and quickly looked away. _What is wrong with me? He's a Tevinter Shemlen! Fenedhis, Alenafes, focus!_

"Are you feeling alright, Alex?" Alenax's blush deepened when he heard the very man he was trying to not think about.

"Fine, ma serannas," Alenax quickly said, pretending to look at the trees to hide his blush.

"Come again?" Dorian responded, confused.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That was the language of the Elvhen." _It slips out when I'm nervous…_ Alenax added silently to himself.

"Hm… cute," Dorian said, almost as if he was simply musing to himself.

Alenax felt his embarrassment turn to anger, "My peoples' language is 'cute' to you?"

"That's not what I said, Alex. I meant that **you** are cute. Are you always this defensive?"

Alenax's brain short circuited. "I… You… Bellanaris Din'an Heem!"

"I'm sorry, I know you don't trust me or want me here. I will leave you alone." Dorian turned away and encouraged his horse to pull ahead. Alenax almost called out and apologized but a part of him was still indignant over Dorain's comment. He had to wonder if he was being too harsh to Dorian. It's not as if the man choose to be of Tevinter. And he was hardly walking around murdering elven slaves for blood magic rituals. _As far as I know…_ The rest of the ride was spent contemplating how he felt about Dorian and whether or not his prejudice was justified.


End file.
